World
Thousands march worldwide in solidarity with Palestine, Iran on al-Quds Day
Published On 13 Mar 2026
Tens of thousands of people have gathered around the world for al-Quds Day, an annual event on the final Friday of Ramadan demonstrating solidarity with Palestine and opposition to Israeli occupation.
Rallies took place across numerous countries, including Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kashmir and Yemen. In Tehran, thousands marched, chanting “death to Israel” and “death to America” as the United States-Israeli military campaign entered its 14th day of conflict.
The event has long been associated with Iran, and was established by the country’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1979.
This year’s observance coincided with the US-Israel attack on Iran that has killed at least 1,444 people, including the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Crowds turned out in Tehran and other cities, despite ongoing US and Israeli strikes in the region during the commemoration, state media reported.
Demonstrators worldwide expressed solidarity with both Palestinians and Iranians. In Kashmir, protesters burned mock coffins bearing images of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while shouting slogans against the United States and Israel.
For the first time in 40 years, the United Kingdom banned London’s al-Quds Day march, citing risks of public disorder related to the “volatile situation in the Middle East” and potential confrontations between opposing groups. This marks the first protest ban since 2012, when authorities prohibited marches by the far-right English Defence League.
According to Iran’s Health Ministry, another 18,551 people have been injured in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since February 28.
World
AI ‘Organisms’ Come Alive in Kuala Lumpur as Dutch Artist Unveils Immersive Show
Digital lifeforms are taking over Kuala Lumpur.
“Algorithmic Organisms 2.0,” an AI-driven immersive audiovisual exhibition from Dutch artist Ray Tijssen, opened at The Grey Box, GMBB Kuala Lumpur, ahead of a public run through July 19.
The show weaves together AI, generative imagery, immersive audio and spatial narrative design, which organizers describe as producing a living, evolving environment. It is organized by Jazzy Group of Companies and presented by MAISEAT, with support from the National Art Gallery of Malaysia (Balai Seni Negara). The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kuala Lumpur also backed the project.
The opening drew figures from the arts and creative industries alongside media, strategic partners, cultural institutions and members of the diplomatic community.
“More than a traditional exhibition, it invites audiences into a living audiovisual environment where AI-generated imagery, immersive sound, and digital lifeforms continuously evolve in real time. It challenges the way we experience art, not as passive observers, but as participants within the work itself,” said Joanne Goh, founder and CEO of Jazzy Group of Companies, in her opening remarks.
Goh added that the project reflects Jazzy Group’s broader push to bring internationally minded creative programming to Malaysia and to foster dialogue across art, technology and culture.
Dutch audiovisual artist and Creative Director 0010×0010, known offstage as Ray Tijssen, joined the ceremony to present the curatorial thinking behind the show, touching on the interplay between technology and creativity and the visitor journey the exhibition is designed to deliver. Tijssen, who is based in Los Angeles and serves as creative director of SQNXR, has built a career around immersive visual installations, sound design and AI-driven imaging systems. Variety first reported on the exhibition in April, when it was announced as a sidebar installation to the Malaysia International Film Festival’s 2026 edition, set to run July 18-25 in Kuala Lumpur.
Goh and Tijssen, joined by representatives of the exhibition’s presenting and supporting partners, performed a ribbon-cutting to mark the official opening. Tijssen then led guests on a walkthrough of the installations, unpacking how artificial intelligence, sound design and generative visuals work together to keep the show’s audiovisual landscape in constant flux.
The evening closed with a cocktail reception featuring live DJ sets and synchronized audiovisual projections.
Tijssen will extend the exhibition’s themes with “Machine Vision & Human Expression: An Interactive Masterclass with 0010×0010,” set for July 4 at the National Art Gallery of Malaysia.
Jazzy Group of Companies also founded and organizes the Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) and has a footprint spanning film production, distribution and exhibition across Asia and beyond.
World
Interpol issues red notice for Ukrainian woman wanted for Monaco apartment bombing targeting oligarch
Ukraine, Russia peace efforts stall as strikes intensify
Ukraine has intensified its aerial offensive, launching drone strikes deep inside Russia, hitting a refinery in Russian-held Crimea and a Moscow oil tank. Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot reports that these actions aim to send a message to Moscow as peace negotiations between the two nations remain stalled.
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The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a red notice Friday for Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian national suspected of bombing a Monaco apartment building that reportedly targeted a Russian-linked Ukrainian oligarch.
The June 30 apartment building explosion, according to numerous media reports, injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian-born construction magnate.
While declining to identify any of the victims by name, Monaco public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault also revealed the explosion injured a woman and a 13-year-old child in the apartment who media reports widely claim to be members of Yermolaiev’s family.
‘PARCEL BOMB’ EXPLODES IN MONACO RESIDENTIAL AREA, LEAVING 2 CRITICALLY INJURED: REPORTS
Berezovska, according to Interpol, is now wanted on charges of attempted murder, depositing an explosive device on a public highway with criminal intent and criminal association.
Interpol identified the Ukrainian national as a dark-haired German-speaking woman who possibly has a tattoo of a snake on her arm.
Surveillance photo of Anastasiia Berezovska (Interpol)
The 39-year-old suspect was initially believed to be a heavy-set man. Monaco Deputy Prosecutor Morgan Raymond even initially referred to the suspect in masculine terms.
“He stood up a few meters ahead of the victims, placed an explosive device taken from his shopping bag on the entrance steps of the building, then turned to confirm the presence of the three victims before triggering the explosion using a remote control,” Raymond said at an initial news conference after the incident.
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Prosecutors reviewed footage of the days leading up to the explosion, finding that a man wearing a fishing hat repeatedly cased the apartment building and surrounding area. However, on June 28, the man was absent from security footage. Instead, a woman — who prosecutors now believe to be Berezovska — followed the same patterns as the man.
Surveillance photo of Anastasiaa Berezovska (Interpol)
“The repeated reconnaissance operations and the pauses made in front of the building clearly demonstrate the intention to specifically target the three victims,” Raymond said.
Investigators tracked her escape across the Monaco-France border, through Italy and into Germany, where authorities are now actively looking for her. They raided her Frankfurt apartment Thursday.
Raymond noted that the sophistication of her explosive device gives prosecutors reason to believe she did not act alone.
“The relative sophistication of the explosive device and the modus operandi appear to indicate that the person who placed the device was not acting alone,” Morgan said.
The damaged entrance of a residential building after an explosion in Monaco June 30, 2026. (Reuters/Alexandre Dimou)
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Though authorities have provided no motive, Yermolaiev’s status as a sanctioned former Ukrainian is notable.
The 58-year-old construction tycoon renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2017, Ukrainian media reported, and has been a citizen of Cyprus since 2019.
In 2023, the Ukrainian government sanctioned him for allegedly continuing to engage with Russia, paying taxes to Moscow and facilitating business transactions through his liquor business in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014.
World
Germany’s Merz defends NATO spending after Trump calls it ‘ridiculous’
Back and forth over defence spending comes as NATO leaders set to meet in Ankara next week.
Published On 3 Jul 2026
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has defended his country’s NATO defence spending, shortly after US President Donald Trump re-upped his criticism of alliance members.
The statement on Friday came as NATO leaders were set to meet next week in Ankara. Trump has decried defence spending by members of the bloc throughout his political career, calling the balance of spending “ridiculous” and “one-sided” in his latest Truth Social posts on the issue earlier this week.
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In one post, Trump said Germany’s spending was “MUCH LOWER” between 2014 and 2025 than the US or other NATO allies, which he again called “Ridiculous!”
When asked about the comment, Merz said Germany would double its defence budget within four years.
“This is the greatest effort we have ever made to strengthen our defence capabilities. In this respect, we have no reason to shy away from anyone,” Merz said.
“We will state this, with all due modesty, and we are doing so as the European Union’s largest member state, bearing a responsibility within Europe,” he said.
US and European ties have been strained throughout Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021 and his current term, which began in January 2025.
However, while largely dismissive of the president during his first four years in office, several European leaders have sought a more amenable approach to the president this time around.
At the behest of the US, NATO leaders agreed to spend 3.5 percent of their countries’ GDP on core defence items, such as weapons and troops, by 2035, an increase of the previous goal set by the bloc of 2 percent of its GDP.
However, relations have since frayed over several issues, including Trump’s pledges to take control of the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. Denmark is a member of NATO.
The US-Israeli war in Iran has also proven to be a major wedge, with Trump launching the conflict without consulting European allies who have dealt with the fallout of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had repeatedly condemned European allies for not joining the war effort.
Merz, meanwhile, roiled the president by saying in April the US had been “humiliated” by Iran. Trump, in turn, said the US would withdraw 5,000 troops currently stationed in Germany.
Speaking on Friday, Merz said Germany was ahead of schedule to reach its NATO commitments.
“We will reach the 3.5 percent benchmark set in The Hague as early as 2029,” he told reporters, “well ahead of the agreed deadline”.
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